Americans are fat. There is no way around it. Being fat is not something that puts us lower on the scale of goodness and virtue, but it certainly is annoying to see another country (France) eat things higher in fat (whole milk, cheese, and white bread). Maybe our problem isn't that we like hamburgers and fries, but that we eat too much.
In 2007-2008, the WHO (World Health Organization) found that 68.0% of their 55,000 sample size of the American population was overweight, compared to 49% in France. French people eat things that Americans would shy away from. Baguettes, made of white flour instead of whole wheat. Cheese with no added calcium. Whole milk! What is this world coming to?
If we were to take a survey of the American diet, we might find that a semi-typical American drinks coffee for breakfast. Maybe this average American has cereal or a heat-up Jimmy Dean sandwich to go along with his coffee. Maybe he picks up something from McDonald's or Burger King or Panara. Depending on where this theoretical man goes to work or school, lunch could be anything from a burrito to pizza to an entire meal. Common lunches at my school are 2 slices of Pizza Hut original crust pizza, Powerade Zero, and an imitation of cookie dough. I can't speculate as to what the common American dinner might be because many people do not have a family meal every night. But in my family, my mother cooks every night.
We obviously want to try and get away from the road we're on, but copying the French diet (or any other kind of diet for that matter) isn't going to cut it. Americans aren't French. French aren't Americans. We have different views on everything political, social, and most importantly, nutritional. They see things like baguettes and blue cheese as a tradition, their breakfasts are bread, Nutella, jam, and coffee. A traditional American breakfast is eggs and bacon, orange juice, and toast with coffee. Not all of us eat this way every day, but it's an example of how much we differ.
Instead of trying to become French or Greek or Italian or Indian in our cuisine, what would happen if we tried to be American? Not American like McDonald's American, but the American that blends family tradition with things like scrambled eggs. A balanced American diet, veggies and all, can be established. We don't all need to be vegetarian or vegan, but we shouldn't be carnivores either. If you were to look in any biology textbook, you could find humans classified under "omnivores". Not "herbivores" or "carnivores" but omnivores. All this debate about whether it's healthy to eat meat or not could be ended in one way. Think of you legendary great-great-great-great grandmother. The one who was living in the early to mid-nineteenth century. What if she was a pioneer? Would you go tell her that she shouldn't eat that deer her husband just shot because it had too much protein and saturated fats? Of course not! Many times, meat was what sustained these people, and it can sustain us now. Obviously, some people have taken the idea with more zeal than others, but a balanced diet can include meat, just not in excess.
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